Daarbelijk, the Kingdom of The Belijnor
Daarbelijk Created by u/benzasome The Kingdom of the Belijnor, or Daarbelijk, is a unitary constitutional monarchy where the King, or Daal, is the sole executive power in the country, but legislative power is balanced between the Daal and a elected body called the House of Clasped Hands (HCH) Population in Millions: 10.2 (8 Belijnor, 2 Eliqais, .2 Halisians) Ethnicity While these groups mainly refer to linguistic differences, there are some genetic differences between them. The Belijnor, Eliqais, and Halisians are all fair of skin. The Belijnor tend to be the tallest on average with an average male height of 175cm. The Halisians are only slightly shorter with an average male height of 171cm and the Eliqais the shortest by a significant amount at 157cm. The Eliqais are most often dark haired, black/brown, with a minority of lighter haired, blonde/red, people. The Belijnor are more often light haired but the Halisians have the highest proportion of light haired people, especially those with red hair for which they are known. Eliqais have a significant about of hazel eyes, but most are blue eyed. Belijnor and Halisians are either blue or grey eyed with blue eyes being more common. Geography Most of coastal Daarbelijk used to be swampland but has been drained, protected with dikes, or filled over the years to create new land. Now, most of the coast land is below the water and the threat of flooding is high. Complicated systems of dikes and back up dikes are used to protect this land. The costal regions and those along the river are heavily urbanized and series of canals bring water further away from the rivers and coast into the hinterlands for productive agriculture. The mountains of the north and east are sparsely populated, but filled with coal and iron, though precious metals are quite rare. Government (Constitutional Monarchy) House of Clasped Hands (HCH) The Daal has the power to initiate Legislative Sessions lasting at least 8 weeks, but may go as long as neither the Daal or a majority of the HCH vote to end the session, to pass laws. The HCH has the authority to pass any law that does not contradict, change, or interpret the constitution. 2 HCH officials are elected every 6 years in each Gebid, about equivalent to an English borough, in a first past the post voting system with each person voting for two candidates. Voting eligibility is determined by laws legislated by each Gebid, and can be anything from Nobles vote only, to property/wealth requirements, to universal suffrage. Gebids and other Administrative Units In the majority of cases Gebids are administrative as well as elective divisions, but a few areas have special privileges and rules under the constitution or treaty/legislation. In these cases, Gebids are drawn within the division as purely elective divisions, or, in the case that the division has a high degree of local autonomy, the division may not be encompassed by a Gebid and therefore does not have representation in the HCH, but may have special provisions to elect members to a CA. Each Gebid contains approximately 100,000 people when drawn, voting or non-voting. Gebids are redrawn by the HCH every ten years that coincide with the taking of a national census. Constitutional Assembly (CA) To change the constitution, a Constitutional Assembly must be elected and called together made up of an elected official of the commoners for every borough, and various nobles with the special title of Kolneel. Voting power is divided in half between nobles and commoners and then split equally among the members of each group, so no Kolneel has more power than any other, and if the vote was split between the elected and Kolneels the vote would end in a tie. Kolneel The title of Kolneel is passed down the direct patrimonial line with the oldest son getting preference, if a Kolneel doesn’t have a legitimate son, even if they have brothers, the holder is able to will the title to any male of the same house. If there are no males of the same house, the title may be willed to the husband of a female member of the house. If there are no married females, the title may be willed to any other noble who does not hold the title Kolneel. No man may not hold two instances of Kolneel, and anyone with the title already is considered ineligible for succession. The title of Kolneel has its origins in the original Baron’s league, Ronde’ek Eenkom, that forced the constitution upon the Daal. Culture The Belijnor are the dominant cultural force in the country, as they are the majority and the ruling class. They consider themselves a cultured and learned people. Belijnor universities are among the finest in the known world, rivaling those in the HCEPAGLASSDUW, the finest among them being Frenijk University. In fact, there is quite a bit of overlap with Belijnor and HCEPAGLASSDUW universities with the various races of the HCEPAGLASSDUW studying at Belijnor universities and vice versa. Many of the known worlds greatest inventions were made in Belijnor universities, including a large veriety of steam engines that now power both Belijnor and other parts of the world. The conservatories of the Belijnor are also well known and many famous composers have come out of the Crown's Conservitory of Betheim including Wilhem Jagal, composer of twenty-four symphonies, considered some of the best in the world. One of the most boasted of inventions in Daarbelijk is the Piano, invented by Eichel Kronlege as a composition tool about one hundred years ago. Eichel Kronlege was also the founded of the Crown's Conservitory of Betheim over 100 years ago and is responsible for its reputation today. History The Beljnor are a ancient people. For thousands of years they lived in small tribal societies with infrequent petty kings uniting some of them for various reasons but never for long. One thousand years ago, Markus 'The Bondmaker' Sigmeijer united the various tribes in wars of conquest and invented a system of oaths and delegation of power to keep the kingdom united, named Sig's Bonds, which was also aided by the uniting force of the religion of Truth. This was the conception of Daarbelijk, the Kingdom of the Belijnor. Over the years the kingdom has had good times and bad times fighting with its neighbors, losing and gaining territory all of the time. Recently, Daarbelijk has surpassed its neighbors leaving itself surrounded by rump states, ground down by the might of the Belijnor's recent industrial explosion. Factories empower the middle, non noble, classes for the first time and the vast stores of coal in the mountains to the north and east power the manufacturies that dot the landscape. The nobility struggles to keep relevance in the coming age of industrialization. Society The middle and noble classes are locked in a struggle for power as rights, privileges, and agricultural land become less relevant than trade, capital, and production. The King sits in the middle, balancing the two powers and using them to empower his position as monarch. The nobles are the most prestigious class, if not always the richest. Generally, they own land, primarily agricultural estates, where they make the majority of their wealth. The leadership of the army and navy are almost exclusively noble with only exceptional men of low birth making it into those ranks, and often only after being granted a title by the King himself. Nobles are allowed to vote, and sometimes even rule in, Gebids. The middle class is composed of merchants, factory owners, bankers, royal bureaucrats, skilled artisans of goods difficult to mass produce, and many more. Some members of the middle class, especially factory owners, can grow to become wealthier than the most wealthy nobles. Most make enough to live comfortably, though not quite as well as the upper middle class or the Nobles. Often members of this class are exempted from military service due to their value to the functioning of the state. Some of the richest can weasel their way into low leadership positions though. In most Gebids, those with a certain level of wealth are allowed to vote in elections, with the poorer members being denied that right. The lower class mostly consists of factory workers, serfs, and freemen. Men of this class make up the rank and file of the military, and they rarely, if ever, make it higher. In the vast majority of Gebids, members of this class are not allowed to vote but they do hold certain inalienable rights. These rights are not always protected however, and they are sometimes abused by their noble Lords. Serfs are the most commonly abused, but freedmen are not entirely free from these abuses. Military TBW Magic Magic is heavily integrated into Belijnor society. Prestigious universities have colleges of the magical arts where people with the special talent develop it. The talent doesn't appear to be genetic, at least it's not directly passed down, and anyone can be born with the talent. People with the talent are a class of their own and are a valuable asset to manufacturing, universities, the army, and the crown. The least powerful mages work in manufacturies, increasing their efficiency through standard techniques invented by the Colleges of Magic around Daarbelijk, and said colleges, to develop new useful techniques. The most powerful mages work for the crown or the army as elite fighters and guards. Exports/Imports Major Exports Coal, manufactured goods, and agricultural products Major Imports Northern wool, southern cotton, luxury goods, and timber Posts: Daarbelijk, or the Kingdom of the Belijnor (Note, the player stopped writing and the nation became NPC. u/GotUsernameFirstTry wrote with them after.) Our loyal subjects, the Belijnor